<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Inopportune by tykiranade</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24931816">Inopportune</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/tykiranade/pseuds/tykiranade'>tykiranade</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Anxiety Attacks, Birthday, Birthday Party, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Headcanon, Hurt/Comfort, In Character, Minor Angst, Not Beta Read, Oneshot, Panic Attacks, Pre-Relationship, Pre-Slash, Self-Doubt, Shadow is tired, Wordcount: 1.000-5.000, and overwhelmed, kinda venty lmao, well-written?, written from personal experiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 06:28:18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,653</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24931816</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/tykiranade/pseuds/tykiranade</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After another exhausting G.U.N. mission, Shadow returns home. But it just so happened to be a very specific day, and everything just became a little too much. Oneshot.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Shadow the Hedgehog &amp; Sonic the Hedgehog, Shadow the Hedgehog/Sonic the Hedgehog</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>95</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Inopportune</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>So I completely forgot to make anything for Sonic and Shadow’s birthdays, so I wrote this. It’s definitely a bit angsty for a birthday fic, but I went along with it. Please note that I write this at 2am, and I never went back to edit it, so there may be some mistakes.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He was drop-dead exhausted. He didn't know what had compelled him to take that extra mission, after all, missions were just an excuse for the commander to run him ragged with miscellaneous tasks that had, no doubt, nothing to do with his actual task. </p><p>  Shadow heaved out a heavy sigh. He knew exactly why he had taken that extra mission, and he found himself silently wishing it had run longer. He had never been much of a sentimental person, but he hadn't quite wanted to deal with memories of his bittersweet tragedy once again.</p><p>  It was a special day, as people would typically say. One that should be spent with friends and family... right. Family. That's why he was avoiding all of this. Every sweet memory he had with her bubble up to the surface, drowning him in feelings he couldn't quite put his finger on. Nostalgia? Longing? Melancholy? It was hard to explain, and he didn't want to fall down the rabbit hole of questioning his past yet again.</p><p>  But he couldn't help it. Joyful, yet long past, memories resurfaced in his mind. Hazy recollections of laughter, and the sickeningly sweet smell of cake and the the cardboard scent of brightly colored cone-shaped hats filled his mind. It was his first time having such a celebration, something about the day of his creation. He remembered Maria in her simple blue gown pulling him along dancing to a tune long lost to time, him stumbling over his own feet in an attempt to dance along. Shadow smiled to himself; it was bittersweet, knowing that he would never relive that moment. Knowing that he's never get a chance to.</p><p>  His footsteps were heavy and dull, tired as he was, he still took the time to enjoy the calm scenery on his way to the G.U.N. supplied apartment he shared with Rouge. The apartment had a nice view, while it obviously wasn't high-end (which Shadow appreciated, in an odd sort of way), there was no arguing that the surrounding area wasn't beautiful. It was serene, with a large expanse of greenery outside of their balcony, and the chorus of wind chimes ringing in the darkness of the night. A soft, refreshing wind blew through his quills, almost as if to comfort him.</p><p>  He was still absolutely exhausted, however, and stopped dead in his tracks when he reached the entrance to their shared apartment. His fished around for his key, before unlocked the door. It was dark inside the apartment, which he found odd. Rouge was supposed to be there already, and even though it was already considerably late, he knew Rouge would still be up at this point. She had a habit of staying up way too late, and he still had no idea how she could survive off so little sleep without any kind of supernatural aid, such as his own. He could go without sleep for long spans of time, and knew how to cope with exhaustion, but he still prefers the mortal luxury of sleep, as opposed to suffering through the bleary tiredness that had etched its way into his core. Not to mention, he found himself snappier when he didn't allow his body at least some modicum of sleep.</p><p>  Even ignoring the oddity of Rouge either having not returned, or simply already having fallen asleep, something felt off-kilter, and it greatly disturbed Shadow. A familiar scent filled the air, but it wasn't one he had every smelled in his (their?) apartment, and that immediately put him on edge. He knew exactly what it was, he was sure, but it seemed he let his exhaustion get to him. He had already gone on multiple multi-week missions in a row with hardly a mere few days between each, and with the added bonus of stress, and the sudden emotional exertion pertaining to his creation date (birthday, he reminded himself), this already seemed like a new disaster brewing.</p><p>  He hesitantly took another step forward, assuring himself that it was just a trick of his brain, that he hadn't slept enough, and that he was just starting to hallucinate. Yet, he knew that was false; he was created and trained to go months without needing sleep. While yes, his exhaustion may have been causing him to overreact, there was absolutely no way he could have been hallucinating. Unless maybe he was stressed? Or worse...</p><p>  A small thud from the other side of the room drew his attention. It came from right around the coffee table in the small living room Shadow and Rouge shared. He started to mentally panic, someone was in his apartment , and it was highly unlikely that it was Rouge, because Rouge, despite being somewhat playfully cheeky, knew Shadow's boundaries. But maybe she never really cared in the first place? Maybe she secretly hated him, and found it amusing to play with his head like this? His stomach churned violently, like a knife lodged in his gut. No, no that wasn't Rouge, Shadow knew. He's overreacting, he needed to calm down, it was probably nothing. He felt terribly guilty for even having the notion that Rouge would do that. </p><p>  He hung his head down lower, trying to collect his thoughts, but he could have sworn he heard whispering and a shuffling sound coming from somewhere inside the room. Before he was given time to process everything and make a plan of action, blinding light flooded the room as the overhead lighting was flicked on, and a chaotic cacophony of voices shouted "surprise!"</p><p>  Shadow paused. It was all too sudden, too bright. Too loud. Before he even knew it a plate with what smelled like chocolate cake was shoved into his trembling, tired hands. This was too familiar, but too alien. Too bright. Too loud. Too familiar. Too new. There were too many things going on at once, too many emotions drowned his normal thought processes.</p><p>  It was his birthday, and there was easily six or seven people huddled in his apartment, yet still, no sign of Rouge. It was supposed to be a nice gesture, Shadow knew, but it felt terrible. All of the memories and emotions he had been trying to bury all day were flooding him. There was too much going on, the scent of cake (and perfume?), the migraine-inducing fluorescent lighting, and the flashes of blue and bursts of laughter that invaded his mind all built up inside of him, until he found his very core trembling. How did they know it was his birthday? He never told anyone... but he knew Rouge had access to his original case files? But why would she?</p><p>  Why? Why did he feel like this? He was supposed to be happy, right? They did all of this for him. He should be happy. He shouldn't feel... like this, right? A stray streamer that was likely taped to the ceiling, as evidenced by the other streamers hanging haphazardly off the walls, landed on the tip of his nose, and added to the overwhelming input that grated on his senses. The rough papery material of the streamer roughly grazed his nose. Normally it wouldn't have been but a minor inconvenience, but right now, it was too much. Everything was too much.</p><p>  He wasn't sure when it happened, but cold tears started to roll down his face. He turned away and his his face from view. He shouldn't be upset. He knew that. But the vivid images of bittersweet memories played through his head, and the self-doubt that echoed in his brain. Why would they do this for him? He hadn't really helped them with anything, and anything he did, was just him trying to fix a problem he caused. He didn't understand, why did they support someone who had caused more harm than good?</p><p>  He fell to his knees. It had hurt, but he barely noticed it. He didn't even notice all that was happening around him anymore. It was loud, but everything was muffled. The plate he was holding earlier had fallen from his hands, and the cake had slid onto the hardwood floor. </p><p>  He almost didn't notice it at first, but someone had grasped his shoulder. It was a gentle, yet firm grip, that felt almost grounding. Someone muttered in his ear that everything would be alright, and that they were there for him. Shadow couldn't make out who was talking to him, but followed the gentle guidance of whoever was pulling him along. It felt safe. They weren't loud, they told him it would be okay, and that they'd be there. How long had it been since he's heard that? Too long, he thought, hazily.</p><p>  He was lead outside to a spot on the grass. It was by an artificial stream, one of the ones that ended up being the home of several fish. It was calm, serene. Occasionally, the sound of an owl broke the silence, bringing along with it, the grounding effect of nature. The figure next to him sat still and silent, seemingly content as a comforting presence.<br/>
For how long he sat, he had no clue, but eventually Shadow quietly muttered, "thank you". It sounded odd, coming from him. It was soft in affect, the kind of tone that many would be surprised to hear from Shadow's mouth.</p><p>  After a moment, the figure responded, "no problem. And... I'm sorry." The voice was sincere and kind. It was then Shadow finally looked up for the identity of the figure, but, for some odd reason, wasn't shocked when he realized it was Sonic.</p><p>  "But why? Why waste your time on me?" Shadow felt vulnerable. He had this on his chest for a long time, and it felt... nice to relieve some of his anxiety.</p><p>  "Because Shadow, we care for you."</p><p>  And despite Shadow swearing he wasn't one for physical touch, he found himself initiating the hug the time.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I hope you enjoyed this little oneshot I wrote! I’m in the process of reviewing some of my old oneshots to see if I want to post them here, rewrite them, or leave them be, so there will probably be more on the way.</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>